The Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-onge, will not seek re-election, according to Radio-channel. However, you will present your proposal to modernize the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canadá.
According to a liberal source, St-Juge will announce this week that she will not be a candidate in the next elections. She represents the conduction of Bome-Misisisquoi in Quebec and was chosen in 2021. St-Juge plans to complete her mandate as minister and deputy.
The source told Radio-channel that St-Juge wants to spend his time to his family, after having had a son with his spouse.
In addition to his duties as Minister of Heritage, ST-ANGE recently assumed the portfolios of Tourism and the Canadian Economic Development Agency for Quebec regions interim. His predecessor, Soraya Martínez Ferrada, announced his intention to run for Mayor of Montreal in early February.
But before leaving, St-Juge plans to fulfill a key part of his mandate letter as Minister of Heritage.
According to the information obtained by Radio-Canada, this week ST-ANGE will present its proposal to modernize the CBC/Radio-Canada mandate in the broadcasting law, which has not been reviewed since 1991.
In recent months, St-Juge has appointed an expert committee to advise you on financing, government and the mission of the public broadcaster.
According to the source, one of St-Juge’s wishes is to consecrate in the law that programming for French Radio-Canadá services is independent of those of CBC.
The new CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, Marie-Philippe Bouchard, says that a budget cut of $ 500 million or more could represent an ‘existential threat’ for the corporation.
With the parliament prorogado and a possibly imminent choice, the approval of this plan in the Chamber of the Commons is very uncertain. That said, St-Juge intends to resort to liberal leadership candidates to support their proposal and commit to their adoption as soon as possible.
The source said that St-Juge plans to press the leadership candidates to approve their plan before the next federal elections. In his opinion, the threats of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to make Canada the 51st of the United States adds to the urgency of modernizing the mandate of the public broadcaster.
ST-ANGE also believes that modernizing the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada must be part of Canada’s response to Trump’s continuous threats.
In the eyes of the minister, said the source, CBC/Radio-Canada is a “tool for cultural sovereignty” and “a source of credible information.”
The conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has committed to defuse CBC, but would continue to support French Radio-Canada services. The groups have warned that their proposal could weaken the public broadcaster in French, since the two entities are interdependent.
Radio-Canada contacted the St-Onge office. They refused to comment on the story.
